I had a drop down side once with overlapped grids and no connectors. I used pliable wire bent around the ends of each side on the drop down grids. And it just sort of had to be unhooked to open the drop down panel.

Thanks, everyone for all of your suggestions. My idea was to have two stacked cages similar to the one on guineapigcages.com that lissie pointed out, except that I wasn't going to put a grid in between the cages. I would then have a problem getting into the bottom cage unless its front grids opened up somehow.

I think that I should just raise the cage (but I'm worried about the top cage being to high) or go with a bottom cage that opens in the front and has plexiglass instead of coroplast on that side.

Check out this link, Maisie. I used the photos here to base my cage on. I had the 2x4, without wheels, until this weekend when I enlarged it to a 2x5. The only thing I don't like about it is how dark the lower level is so I added lights and use light colored fleece down there to brighten it up.

Yes, both Weaver's older cages and the link from C&H are similar to what I want. We live in a 1 bedroom with absolutely no spare floorspace so I need to keep the same footprint. Since I also have dogs, I want the bottom cage to be off the floor and I need the storage anyway. This is great - I'm going to build coroplast kitchen areas too. You've all been a great help.

Now let's just hope that Cookie the diva and Hunk the happy actually get along...... I've found that the neutered boar / female pairing is easier than other non-breeding combinations. My vet neuters through the abdomen so there's less problem with infection and has done many, many procedures. All for a price.

Maisie, in the photos of that cage they use a grid at each point where 4 grids meet to prevent sagging. I tried that when I built mine but I wasn't at all happy with how unstable the cage was. The floor of the lower level was fine because of all the bracing underneath it but the floor of the upper level still had a sag to it. I ended up ripping a couple of strips of wood and running them, end to end, under the front edge and the center of the upper level. That fixed the sag and made the whole cage much more stable. Here's a link to a cage where you can see what I mean. http://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/15640

Depending on the size of the squares in your grids you might be able to use the 1 3/8" x 1 3/8" wood that Lowe's & Home Depot sell. That way you'd only need to cut it to length.

ok, 4 hours later and I'm almost done. I can't believe how long it took to undo all those zip ties!
Anyway, I expanded from 4 grids to 5 grids long, a 2x4 fleece area and 2x1 area for the kitchen.

Nikka's hide away.
And of course Jasper is looking for the oatmeal cookies!
This is the frame for the ramp. I've tied it up until I can get the coroplast finished for the second level.
I have the pieces in for the second level, but I don' t have the coroplast cut yet. The 'chirpers' wanted to get back in their cage. They were tired of floor time.

Here's the finished cage. I kept measuring wrong on the second level coroplast, good thing I started too large and had to make it smaller.
We had to get rid of the frame around the ramp. I was too afraid they would get their paws stuck in it. We have a towel covered ramp from their SuperPets cage that we started out with.

The second level. We found a use for the bent grid that didn't work as a hay rack either.

The Hidey, under the second level. Complete with fleece pillows.

I've said it before, I'm a dork. Almost all the fleece matches the living room.

Ange1icflowers, the folks at GPC are pretty adamant about lofts not counting in the required cage space, but I think it depends on the pigs. I have a two-level six-foot-long cage with an outside tunnel, and mine run madly from one end, up the tunnel to the other end of the loft, back down to where they started, and then do it all over again. So they definitely use the loft as a place for exercise. If yours do anything like that, you can probably get by with a little less than the recommended space.

Other things you might consider are removing the big hidey and making the loft the feeding area, so there's more free space on the bottom, and switching to an external ramp to free up more floor space.

wow Hunybee, What kind of water bottle is that? It looks like a huge bottle for human consumption that you just put a spout on but its neat. LOL, and Jasper is so pretty when not covered with hay. Don't tell him I said pretty though. He might wish I'd have said boarly or handsome. Either way he's a cutie whether playing haymonster or not. And I just love solid black piggies. And yet I still have not ever had one yet.
And your fleece in that last pic reminds me of the most awesome warmest sleeping bag I ever had. Nice memories in that.

Yeah, Ange 1, if your pigs are so bonded they don't really fuss over stuff you really might not have to worry about adding space unless you can and want to. I like the hut on the top level. I wish that if a pig herd used the upper deck a lot and likes it that it counted in the minimum size. But then, if they get along really well, that minimum isn't as set in stone, in my opinion, as long as they have nearly as much.

I think I'm going to give them a "lower level" off of the main level off to the side for their "kitchen". This will keep the main level usable as the "play" area and the loft for sleeping. And under the loft for sleeping as well. And the breakfast area for sleeping as well.

But it should make for easier cleanup with the fleece, as I won't put fleece in the "kitchen".

Ok. Off to bed so I can work out the logistics of this tomorrow. Pray for me. I can't visualize things, so I have to get a rough idea in front of me...which means putting together and taking apart many, many, many times.

Tex. It IS a human water bottle. Theirs cracked during cleaning one day. I was scrambling to find something because of course, these things don't happen unless you are getting ready for work. This one litre bottle fit the spout perfectly, and Jasper can't empty it in one day like he did the other one. AND this one doesn't leak.

As for the pillows, they wouldn't use the bags I made them, so I filled them with extra batting. Big enough to sleep under as well as on.

Wow, you mean they actually like that tunnel? I imagine even with some support it kind of flexes. I would think that might scare them some. Have you tried to clean it out? That can be a downside of tunnels.

Ange1icflowers, nice big cage!

I like seeing the shelving sides. Seems to me they are stronger and safer (a head can't go through) though perhaps less versatile and more expensive.

They love it -- took 'em less than an hour to figure out how to go up and down. It doesn't flex -- it's pretty stiff drain pipe, and the bungee cords hold it tight against the cage. I had to make it sturdy, because the Abby's rooster tail sticks up out of the slot as she's going up and down, and the dog is VERY interested. But it's funny, sitting across the room and watching this tuft of hair ascending up the side of the cage.

It comes apart for easy cleaning. You can (barely) see the red dots I've painted on the ends -- that's where the tube slots into the elbows, so you just slide it in at both ends and give it a twist. The picture doesn't show it, but it also has a fleece-over-mattress-pad runner that goes through it and out each end. I usually find a few poops underneath the runner, especially if they've had more Nascar races than usual and have gotten the runner out of alignment. But cleaning is usually just a matter of shaking it out and either spraying it with the hose, or wiping it out with a rag.